Remixxing the mainstream news one blog post at a time from the shores of Venice Beach. News, politics & conspiracy theories about world issues. All posts are opinions meant to foster comment, reporting, teaching & study under the "fair use doctrine" in Sec. 107 of U.S. Code Title 17. No statement of fact is made or should be implied. Ads appearing on this blog are solely the product of Blogger.com and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Remixx World!

Davao City is the proposed site for the hearing on the proposed measure pushing for a ban on aerial spraying, which was authored by Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez.Rodriguez’s House Bill 5573 is seeking to ban the use of the fungicide Dithane, a chemical commonly used in the banana industry.

The proposed measure, according to Rodriguez, is pending before the House committee on ecology chaired by Zamboanga Sibugay Representative Belma Cabilao.

The lawmaker clarified that his bill only aims to ban aerial spraying, citing misinformation that it seeks to ban all kinds of spraying.

AROUND 600 banana farmers, many of them beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, marched to the regional offices of the Department of Agriculture and Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority to avert any move to suspend aerial spraying.

A new punitive general order concerning the use of uncontrolled or un-regulated psychotropic substances by service members has been disseminated by Commander Marine Corps Forces, Pacific and became effective on Dec. 1.

According to MARFORPAC Order 5355.2, the substances known as Spice and Salvia Divinorum, while not listed as a controlled substance and highly accessible by service members, are hereby prohibited to all service members assigned within the MARFORPAC chain of command.

The provisions of the order prohibit the actual or attempted possession, use, sale, distribution or manufacture of Spice, Salvia and any derivative, analogue or variant of either substance.

According to the order, these substances are being used solely for the purpose of a psychotropic “high” when ingested or smoked, and have a high potential to negatively affect the safety, health, welfare and performance of Marines and sailors. Additionally, mission accomplishment, national security and good order and discipline of all units can also be compromised.

Known affects of the substances include hallucinations, changes in perception, body or object distortion, loss of coordination and concentration, decreased motor function and impairment of short-term memory. These side effects will likely cause users to suffer adverse physical reactions or engage in unlawful conduct due to impaired judgment, the order stated.

Although SECNAVINST 5300.28D currently prohibits the unlawful use of any natural substance, with the intent to induce intoxication, excitement, or stupefaction of the central nervous system, the MARFORPAC punitive order specifically targets the psychotropic substances Spice and Salvia Divinorum that are legally obtainable on the open market.

This new order eliminates the ambiguity,” said John Veneziano, director, Consolidated Substance Abuse Counseling Center.

Any violation of the order may result in disciplinary action. According to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Marines and sailors under the command of MARFORPAC can be punished for violation of the punitive general order under Article 92.

Common names for Salvia Divinorum are Diviner’s Sage, Magic Mint, Maria Pastora, Sage of the Seers and Sally-D.

“Any unlawful substance that alters a service member’s state of mind is prohibited to all military personnel,” Veneziano added. “However, no matter what substance a service member is having an issue with, be it prescription, over-the-counter, illegal drugs or alcohol, CSACC is available to provide treatment.”

For more information about Spice and Salvia Divinorum, or to ask about drug and alcohol abuse assistance, visit your unit Substance Abuse Counseling Officer or call CSACC at (760) 725-5538.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

I had not reported much lately on the rumors in Ukraine, because I am hearing conflicting information. Some say that there is a serious pandemic happening in a media blackout. However, I am also hearing that there is nothing out of the ordinary occurring.

Nevertheless, the French embassy is now reporting that the 2nd wave of the H1N1 pandemic is happening as we speak and that seventy-nine (79) people have died in the last five (5) days from December 23, 2009 - December 28, 2009. You can read the original language website here or the translated version by clicking here.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pressed a button to get Siberian oil flowing into the first tanker for delivery to an Asian customer, in Hong Kong, from Russia’s Pacific coast. In addition to China, supplies will also target Japan and South Korea...

The Kozmino port, near Vladivostok, cost $2 billion to build and has the capacity to handle 300,000 barrels of crude per day (15 million tons per year), with oil quality comparable to that of Middle Eastern blends now dominating the market.

Transneft, the state pipeline monopoly, spent another $12 billion to lay the 2,694-kilometer ESPO pipeline through east Siberian wilderness to connect the area’s greenfields, being developed by oil majors Rosneft, TNK-BP and Surgutneftegaz, to the railway station of Skovorodino. The link has the capacity to carry 30 million tons a year.

Once again, I will ask, why is America not spending billions on infrastructure projects such as this Russian energy project?

Incoming college dorm residents will need an additional vaccine next month, thanks to a new Texas law. Without the shot, they cannot live in the dorm. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports.

Texas college students moving into dorms for the first time after January 1st will now need a vaccine against bacterial meningitis. June Brownlee, with the University of North Texas Student Health and Wellness Center says the bill has come up in past legislative sessions, and finally passed earlier this year.

2009 has been quite the year for me learning about various pathogens. H1N1, H2N2, H5N1, Ebola, HPV, H3N8, pneumonic plague et cetera. I guess there is time for one more before the end of the year, and that pathogen would be Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever. This pathogen recently killed an Army soldier in Afghanistan.

U.S. military officials sent a medical team to a remote outpost in southern Afghanistan this week to take blood samples from members of an Army unit after a soldier in the unit died from an Ebola-like virus.

Dr. Jim Radike, an expert in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the Role 3 Trauma Hospital at Kandahar Air Field, told The Washington Times that Sgt. Robert David Gordon, 22, from River Falls, Ala., died Sept. 16 from what turned out to be Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever after he was bitten by a tick.

With the health-care battle still unfinished, the Obama administration has been laying plans to take up an issue that could prove even more divisive — a major overhaul of the nation's immigration system.

Senior White House aides privately have assured Latino activists that the president will back legislation next year to provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented workers now living in the United States.

I am all for people, but I am not in favor of corrupt governments and corporations that take advantage of these people. Illegal immigration is just this type of issue. The mainstream media (which is a part of the government and corporations) makes it a racial issue that divides all people in this country. The below is from a Pulse Opinion Research, LLC poll on August 26, 2009:

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of likely voters were opposed to legalizing the status of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. with only 19% supporting it. 88% of African-Americans were opposed to legalization.

Mexico has a corrupt government that oppresses the people. As a result, there are no opportunities for people in that country. Seeking other opportunities, these hard working people move North and are exploited by "coyotes" before they are even able to cross the border. Once here in the country, many immigrants are further exploited in jobs without regulation and off the books. There is really no need for this migration from Mexico, because Mexico has similar resources, minerals and energy sources to the United States.

Unfortunately, the corrupt government has access to Mexico's wealth and the people do not. Therefore if the corruption is removed, then Mexico would be able to provide economic opportunities for its people on levels where WE would be trying to emigrate to Mexico. In fact, a nice beach pad in Baja California sounds quite appealing right now or something on the Cortez Sea.

If we clean up both our corrupt government and the corrupt Mexican government, then the illegal immigration issue will no longer be an issue, because people will not want to leave their homelands and travel thousands of miles across the desert only to be exploited once they are here. However, as long as there are no opportunities in these homelands, people will continue trying to move elsewhere to provide for their respective families - and I do not blame them! I may have to emigrate somewhere else if the opportunities continue evaporating here in the States.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to plan and prepare for the timely provision of medical countermeasures to the American people in the event of a biological attack in the United States through a rapid Federal response in coordination with State, local, territorial, and tribal governments.

Sec. 2. United States Postal Service Delivery of Medical Countermeasures.

(a) The U.S. Postal Service has the capacity for rapid residential delivery of medical countermeasures for self administration across all communities in the United States. The Federal Government shall pursue a national U.S. Postal Service medical countermeasures dispensing model to respond to a large-scale biological attack.

(b) The Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, in coordination with the U.S. Postal Service, within 180 days of the date of this order, shall establish a national U.S. Postal Service medical countermeasures dispensing model for U.S. cities to respond to a large-scale biological attack, with anthrax as the primary threat consideration.

(c) In support of the national U.S. Postal Service model, the Secretaries of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and Defense, and the Attorney General, in coordination with the U.S. Postal Service, and in consultation with State and local public health, emergency management, and law enforcement officials, within 180 days of the date of this order, shall develop an accompanying plan for supplementing local law enforcement personnel, as necessary and appropriate, with local Federal law enforcement, as well as other appropriate personnel, to escort U.S. Postal workers delivering medical countermeasures.

Sec. 3. Federal Rapid Response.

(a) The Federal Government must develop the capacity to anticipate and immediately supplement the capabilities of affected jurisdictions to rapidly distribute medical countermeasures following a biological attack. Implementation of a Federal strategy to rapidly dispense medical countermeasures requires establishment of a Federal rapid response capability.

(b) The Secretaries of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, within 90 days of the date of this order, shall develop a concept of operations and establish requirements for a Federal rapid response to dispense medical countermeasures to an affected population following a large-scale biological attack.

Sec. 4. Continuity of Operations.

(a) The Federal Government must establish mechanisms for the provision of medical countermeasures to personnel performing missionessential functions to ensure that mission-essential functions of Federal agencies continue to be performed following a biological attack.

(b) The Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, within 180 days of the date of this order, shall develop a plan for the provision of medical countermeasures to ensure that mission-essential functions of executive branch departments and agencies continue to be performed following a large-scale biological attack.

Sec. 5. General Provisions.

(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) authority granted by law to a department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

Two research students were burnt alive in a fire that broke out in a building housing a chemical laboratory inside the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) complex in Chembur in north-east Mumbai Tuesday afternoon, an official said. However, the main reactor was not threatened...

Police sources said that the fire may have erupted following a suspected chemical reaction that led to a blast in the laboratory housing analytical instruments.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Take a look at this picture of Macho B, who was the last remaining jaguar in the United States. Macho B was recently captured and fitted with an electronic tracking device. Macho B was dead soon thereafter. Was it the trap that killed Macho B when it snared his paw (see picture above)? Or was it the electronic tracking collar? Electronic devices have been previously known to adversely affect animal health.

The official press release from the Arizona Game and Fish Department is below.

A collared jaguar from southern Arizona that was recaptured today for medical intervention has been euthanized after veterinarians determined the cat was in severe and unrecoverable kidney failure.

The decision was made in consultations between the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Phoenix Zoo.

The jaguar was brought to the Phoenix Zoo earlier today after a team from the department recaptured it. Zoo veterinarians conducted lab work and physical exams to evaluate the animal and discover the source of the cat’s deteriorating condition.

While early data indicated that the animal was doing well in the days following the capture and collaring, careful monitoring of recent data revealed a decreased level of activity over the weekend that warranted further investigation.

“This is an unfortunate and disappointing situation,” said Gary Hovatter, deputy director of the Arizona Gama and Fish Department. “We were looking forward to using the data acquired from Macho B to learn more about the species use of the borderland habitats in order to further conserve the species as a whole.”

Macho B was believed to be the oldest known jaguar in the wild. His age was estimated at two to three years old in photographs taken in 1996, making him 15-16 years old now. Previously the oldest known jaguar in the wild was 13 years old.

Kidney failure is a common ailment in older cats.

“It is a sad, but appropriate course of action to euthanize this animal given the hopelessly terminal nature of his condition,” said Steve Spangle, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Arizona field supervisor.

A necropsy will be performed to learn more about the jaguar’s condition and to possibly provide clues into how long the animal had been sick.

The jaguar’s initial capture was guided by protocols developed in case a jaguar was inadvertently captured in the course of other wildlife management activities. The plan, which was created in consultation with leading jaguar experts, includes a protocol for capture, sedation and handling.

The magnetic north pole had moved little from the time scientists first located it in 1831. Then in 1904, the pole began shifting northeastward at a steady pace of about 9 miles (15 kilometers) a year.

In 1989 it sped up again, and in 2007 scientists confirmed that the pole is now galloping toward Siberia at 34 to 37 miles (55 to 60 kilometers) a year...

Scientists had long suspected that, since the molten core is constantly moving, changes in its magnetism might be affecting the surface location of magnetic north.

The state will be the first to test a live National Emergency Message Code.

It's not surprising that Alaska will be the first state to test this code, it was the first to test the live tsunami alert system, and now will be the first to try this nation-wide alert.

In any emergency situation the goal is to alert the public as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Recent public service announcements warn viewers and listeners of an emergency code test that will hit airwaves at 10 a.m. on Jan. 6.

It's an exercise to see if, during a real national emergency, the word will reach the public.

"This particular test is going to use the real code if there was a national-level emergency and the president needed to talk to the American public. It's going to use the actual code that would be used during a national emergency," said Bryan Fisher, Chief of Operations at the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

The Emergency Action Notification Code can only be activated by the president. It's never been tested before and officials say Alaska is the ideal location.

"If we can make the system work here, it will work anywhere. Alaska is really a natural test bed with our distances and our geographic limitations and the communication system up here. If we can prove that it works up here, it should work anywhere else in the country," Fisher said.

Several FEMA and national homeland security officials will come to Alaska to monitor the exercise that will operate out of Alaska's homeland security center.

The real alert will broadcast the president's voice on an audio track through radio and TV, but the test audio will first come to a local radio station, KFQD, and will be distributed to relay points across the state.

"When it comes to a connection or an activation from Washington, DC, the system has no limit so they're going to double-check and make sure everything will function differently," said Dennis Bookey with the state emergency communications.

"With the environment we're in today with homeland security and the terrorist threat there is a potential that the president could use the system to alert the public of a terrorist threat," Fisher said.

After the emergency code is tested officials will make changes and adjustments accordingly so that our nation and state will be prepared.

Alaska Homeland Security says after the test in Alaska, the aim is to do one nation-wide sometime next year.

A Web site will go live on Jan. 6 so the public can log in to give feedback after the test is broadcast. The site will not be active until then.

I guess the crazy operation that happened with Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab on Christmas has served its purpose. I predicted that the authorities would be reveal that Mutallab had the explosives hidden in his underwear. Because TSA cannot physically inspect peoples' genital areas at the airport terminal checkpoints without running into serious privacy issues, the powers-that-be needed a more invasive alternative.

The hi-tech machines are being installed in ten US airports and take just seconds to scan plane passengers.

They are designed to replace the physical pat-downs that is currently widespread in airports.

A random selection of plane travellers in Washington, New York's Kennedy, Los Angeles and other key hubs will be shut in glass booths while a three-dimensional image is made of their body beneath their clothes.

The booths close around the passenger and emit "millimetre waves" that go through cloth to identify metal, plastics, ceramics, chemical materials and explosives, according to the Transport Safety Authority (TSA).

While it allows the security screeners - looking at the images in a separate room - to clearly see the passenger's sexual organs as well as other details of their bodies, the passenger's face is blurred, TSA said.

The Navajo Nation has announced plans to break ground on a $200 million wind farm late in 2010 on ranch lands about 80 miles west of Flagstaff...

The Navajo Nation, Foresight Wind Energy and Edison Mission Energy propose to build a 48-turbine array by December 2011, and to sell the electricity produced from the wind farm in Arizona.

The wind farm is proposed for the Big Boquillas Ranch, which stretches from the very windy Aubrey Cliffs northwest of Seligman to an area west of Valle and south of the Grand Canyon.

If operating at about the same efficiency as the proposed Dry Lake wind farm near Winslow, the 85-megawatt wind farm would generate enough electricity to power more than 20,200 homes when operating at full capacity.

The woman, from El Tanta district of Gharbia governorate, in northern Egypt, got sick with a fever and cough on Dec 15 and was admitted to the hospital the same day, where she was treated with oseltamivir (Tamiflu). She is in stable condition, the WHO reported. She is listed as Egypt's 90th WHO-confirmed H5N1 case, of which 27 have been fatal.

An investigation into the source of her infection revealed that the woman had close contact with dead poultry and had helped slaughter sick birds.

Egypt's Central Public Laboratories, one of the WHO's national collaborating centers, confirmed the case.

The country so far has recorded more H5N1 cases in 2009 than any other. Of 52 cases reported internationally, 38 were from Egypt. Of those Egyptians who were infected, only four died.

Egypt's latest case confirmation raises the global H5N1 tally to 447 cases, of which 263 have been fatal.

Pfizer Animal Health said its swine influenza vaccine, a killed virus vaccine developed and made at its plant in Lincoln, Neb., has been approved by USDA for vaccination of healthy swine, including pregnant sows and gilts, three weeks of age or older against subtype H1N1. Pfizer becomes the first U.S. biologics manufacturer to receive a USDA conditional license for this new vaccine. Because the product license is conditional, efficacy and/or potency of this product have not been fully demonstrated.

Pfizer says the new vaccine is a freeze-dried preparation and requires a 2-millileter dose and a booster after three weeks. Pfizer said it has built an adequate inventory of this new vaccine to ensure supply in pork-producing states. Local use of the new pH1N1 vaccine requires the approval of state veterinarians and Pfizer said it is working to achieve state-by-state approvals.

Steve Sornsen, director of veterinary services for Pfizer Animal Health, said serologic studies showed an increase in antibody titers against the pandemic H1N1 strain. Pfizer advised its producers to consult their veterinarian on the use of this new conditionally-licensed vaccine, as well as continue to follow American Association of Swine Veterinarians and National Pork Producers Council recommendations for routine flu preventive measures.

The below quote is from the initial story about the amended Presidential Executive Order 12425. My analysis follows the original source story from Pajamas Media.

At ThreatsWatch.org, Steve Schippert and Clyde Middleton have dug up the bizarre and unsettling issuance of an executive order recently signed by President Barack Obama. Executive Order — Amending Executive Order 12425, signed December 16 and released a day later, grants the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) rights on American soil that place it beyond the reach of our own law enforcement agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Schippert and Middleton note that Obama’s order removes protections placed upon INTERPOL by President Reagan in 1983. Obama’s order gives the group the authority to avoid Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests — which means this foreign law enforcement organization can operate free of an important safeguard against governmental abuse. “Property and assets,” including the organization’s records, cannot be searched or seized. Their physical locations and records are now immune from U.S. legal or investigative authorities.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12425 called "International Criminal Police Organizations," which is a very appropriate name. The law allowed INTERPOL to operate within the United States of America. The full text of Reagan's original Order is:

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, including Section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (59 Stat. 669, 22 U.S.C. 288), it is hereby ordered that the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), in which the United States participates pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 263a, is hereby designated as a public international organization entitled to enjoy the privileges, exemptions and immunities conferred by the International Organizations Immunities Act; except those provided by Section 2(c), the portions of Section 2(d) and Section 3 relating to customs duties and federal internal-revenue importation taxes, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of that Act. This designation is not intended to abridge in any respect the privileges, exemptions or immunities which such organization may have acquired or may acquire by international agreement or by Congressional action.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288), and in order to extend the appropriate privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12425 of June 16, 1983, as amended, is further amended by deleting from the first sentence the words "except those provided by Section 2(c), Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of that Act" and the semicolon that immediately precedes them.

International organizations shall enjoy the status, immunities, exemptions, and privileges set forth in this section, as follows:

(c) Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable.

(d) Insofar as concerns customs duties and internal-revenue taxes imposed upon or by reason of importation, and the procedures in connection therewith; the registration of foreign agents;

Section 3

Pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of Customs with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, the baggage and effects of alien officers and employees of international organizations, or of aliens designated by foreign governments to serve as their representatives in or to such organizations, or of the families, suites, and servants of such officers, employees, or representatives shall be admitted (when imported in connection with the arrival of the owner) free of customs duties and free of internal-revenue taxes imposed upon or by reason of importation.

Section 4

The Internal Revenue Code is hereby amended as follows:

(a) Effective with respect to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1943, section 116 (c), relating to the exclusion from gross income of income of foreign governments, is amended to read as follows:

``(C) INCOME OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS AND OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The income of foreign governments or international organizations received from investments in the United States in stocks, bonds, or other domestic securities, owned by such foreign governments or by international organizations, or from interest on deposits in banks in the United States of moneys belonging to such foreign governments or international organizations, or from any other source within the United States.´´

(b) Effective with respect to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1943, section 116 (h) (1), relating to the exclusion from gross income of amounts paid employees of foreign governments, is amended to read as follows:

``(1) RULE FOR EXCLUSION.—Wages, fees, or salary of any employee of a foreign government or of an international organization or of the Commonwealth of the Philippines (including a consular or other officer, or a nondiplomatic representative), received as compensation for official services to such government, international organization, or such Commonwealth—

``(A) If such employee is not a citizen of the United States, or is a citizen of the Commonwealth of the Philippines (whether or not a citizen of the United States); and

``(B) If, in the case of an employee of a foreign government or of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the services are of a character similar to those performed by employees of the Government of the United States in foreign countries or in the Commonwealth of the Philippines, as the case may be; and

``(C) If, in the case of an employee of a foreign government or the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the foreign government or the Commonwealth grants an equivalent exemption to employees of the Government of the United States performing similar services in such foreign country or such Commonwealth, as the case may be.´´

(c) Effective January 1, 1946, section 1426 (b), defining the term ‘‘employment’’ for the purposes of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, is amended (1) by striking out the word ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph (14), (2) by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (15) and inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon and the word ‘‘or’’, and (3) by inserting at the end of the subsection the following new paragraph:

``(16) Service performed in the employ of an international organization.´´

(d) Effective January 1, 1946, section 1607 (c) defining the term ‘‘employment’’ for the purposes of the Federal Unemploment Tax Act, is amended (1) by striking out the word ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph (14), (2) by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (15) and inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon and the word ‘‘or’’, and (3) by inserting at the end of the subsection the following new paragraph:

``(16) Service performed in the employ of an international organization.´´

(e) Section 1621 (a) (5), relating to the definition of ‘‘wages’’ for the purpose of collection of income tax at the source, is amended by inserting after the words ‘‘foreign government’’ the words ‘‘or an international organization’’.

(f) Section 3466 (a), relating to exemption from communications taxes is amended by inserting immediately after the words ‘‘the District of Columbia’’ a comma and the words ‘‘or an international organization’’.

(g) Section 3469 (f) (1), relating to exemption from the tax on transportation of persons, is amended by inserting immediately after the words ‘‘the District of Columbia’’ a comma and the words ‘‘or an international organization’’.

(h) Section 3475 (b) (1), relating to exemption from the tax on transportation of property, is amended by inserting immediately after the words ‘‘the District of Columbia’’ a comma and the words ‘‘or an international organization’’.

(i) Section 3797 (a), relating to definitions, is amended by adding at the end thereof a new paragraph as follows:

``(18) INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘international organization’ means a public international organization entitled to enjoy privileges, exemptions, and immunities as an international organization under the International Organizations Immunities Act.´´

Section 5

(a) Effective January 1, 1946, section 209 (b) of the Social Security Act, defining the term ‘‘employment’’ for the purposes of title II of the Act, is amended (1) by striking out the word ‘‘or’’ at the end paragraph (14), (2) by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (15) and inserting in lieu thereof a seinicolon and the word ‘‘or’’, and (3) by inserting at the end of the subsection the following new paragraph:

``(16) Service performed in the employ of an international organization entitled to enjoy privileges, exemptions, and immunities as an international organization under the International Organizations Immunities Act.´´

(b) No tax shall be collected under title VIII or IX of the Social Security Act or under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act or the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, with respect to services rendered prior to January 1, 1946, which are described in paragraph (16) of sections 1426 (b) and 1607 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and any such tax heretofore collected (including penalty and interest with respect thereto, if any) shall be refunded in accordance with the provisions of law applicable in the case of erroneous or illegal collection of the tax. No interest shall be allowed or paid on the amount of any such refund. No payment shall be made under title II of the Social Security Act with respect to services rendered prior to January 1, 1946, which are described in paragraph (16) of section 209 (b) of such Act, as amended.

Section 6

International organizations shall be exempt from all property taxes imposed by, or under the authority of, any Act of Congress, including such Acts as are applicable solely to the District of Columbia or the Territories.

Kurt and Lori Haskell sat seven rows behind a 23-year-old Nigerian man on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam who now has been charged with trying to destroy the plane in what is believed to be an attempted act of terrorism.

The Haskells were coming home from a safari vacation in Uganda and were on layover in Amsterdam on Christmas. While sitting on the floor waiting to board, Mr. Haskell said he noticed something unusual.

An Indian man who "looked wealthy and was dressed in a nice suit" approached the ticket counter with a young man.

"They looked like an odd couple because the Indian man was dressed so nice and the person, who I thought was a teen, was a scraggly dressed black guy," Mr. Haskell said. "... The Indian man said he needed to get (the Nigerian man) on the plane, but he had no passport."

Mr. Haskell, 38, said the Indian man told the woman at the ticket counter that "the man was from Sudan and that it was typical (to let him on the plane without a passport)."

The young man was sent down the hall to talk with a manager. A few minutes later, passengers boarded the plane bound for Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The flight was "nice and smooth" until shortly before landing. Mr. Haskell said the pilot made an announcement for the passengers to prepare for landing. About 10 minutes later, a second announcement was made directed at the flight attendants.

"Within a few seconds, I heard one stewardesses say that something smelled like smoke," Mr. Haskell said. "I looked up from my seat and saw the smoke coming from row 20."

The Haskells were sitting in seats H and J in row 27, seven rows back from the fire. Once he saw the smoke, Mr. Haskell unbuckled his beat and took a few steps forward.

"I saw the flames shooting up and saw the wall was on fire," he said. "I thought we were going to die."

A male flight attendant put out the flames. Fear took over as passengers realized the situation they just had faced.

"People were yelling ‘terrorist’ and ‘fire’," Mr. Haskell said. "The flight attendants, who are usually calm, were screaming, and it was scary."

That was when Mr. Haskell noticed the man who started the fire was the same man who he saw at the Amsterdam ticket counter.

The suspect quickly was moved to the first-class section of the plane, and the Haskells did not see him afterward. The man, since identified as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was handcuffed and taken into custody when the plane landed.

The pilot announced there would be an emergency landing and the plane picked up speed, Mr. Haskell said, hitting the ground about five minutes after the ordeal.

Once grounded, the passengers were left on board for about 20 minutes before being escorted inside the airport to customs, where they were kept for about six hours without the ability to contact family.

Layoffs are a fact of life in this economy, but there are humane ways to do it. Then there's the Arrow Trucking Arrow Trucking method.

The Tulsa, Okla., trucking company stopped payment on the gas cards of its drivers, leaving some of them stranded Tuesday around the United States, miles from home. No explanation on the website. No one at the company answering phones.